Shrewsbury mum-of-three dies aged 48 after hospital smear test mistake
A 48-year-old Shropshire mother-of-three died of cervical cancer after a smear test at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital was mistakenly classed as normal, her lawyers have said.
Kerry Pugh, from Shrewsbury, started to experience symptoms including bleeding in 2017 but after checks at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, no definitive cause for the bleeding was determined.
In June 2018, Kerry attended a routine cervical cancer screening appointment and was told the results were normal.
But months later, the retail assistant started experiencing a worsening of her symptoms, including irregular bleeding, eventually leading to pain in her coccyx.
Following tests, she was diagnosed with stage four cancer. An MRI scan reported a large invasive tumour measuring 8 cm x 5cm x 5cm.
She was told that surgery was not an option due to the size of the tumour and underwent radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
Kerry died aged 48 in June 2022 leaving behind three children: Morgan, 24, Lily, 14, and Freddie, aged 11.
Her cause of death was recorded as cervical cancer.
